Agitating receptacle and game pieces



March 27, 1956 A. M. FAY 2,739,815

AGITATING RECEPTACLE AND GAME PIECES Filed Sept. 4, 1952 INH I IR will?? ll'ummf lllllllll'l `2Z IN VEN TOR.

@ @MWMA United States PatentO "ice AGITATING RECEPTACLE AND GAME PIECES Arthur M. Fay, Chicago, Ill.

Application September 4, 1952, Serial No. 367,835

1 Claim. (Cl. 273-145) This invention relates to a word-forming game which is if' simple and enjoyable to play and also provides valuable practice in learning the art of spelling as well as affording an excellent opportunity for improving the vocabulary of the player or players.

Various games of this type have heretofore been proposed which are of either such a complex or simple nature as to be enjoyed only by persons of certain age levels or intelligence. A second disadvantage of these prior games is that frequently only relatively few combinations of letters are possible, thereby limiting, to a con-siderable extent, the number of possible words which can be formed and thus resulting in the player or players quickly losing interest and enjoyment in the game. Finally, in most of these prior games either a plurality of small pieces, which may easily be lost or misplaced, are required in order to play the game or else a relatively large area is required for playing. All of these shortcomings and limitations have had a marked effect on the popular acceptance of such games by the public.

Thus it is one of the objects of this invention to provide a game which has appeal to young and old alike and is not beset with the numerous shortcomings and limitations above noted.

It is a further object of this invention to provide a game which, while serving a useful educational purpose, provides also abundant entertainment for the player or players.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a game which has innumerable combinations of letters for forming intelligible words thereby materially adding to the interest and fascination of the game.

It is a still further object of this invention to provide a game which is simple and compact in construction, may be readily played by one or more players, and is inexpensive to produce.

Further and additional objects will appear from the description, accompanying drawings, and appended claim.

In accordance with one embodiment of this invention a game is provided for creating meaningful sequences of indlcia, for example words, and comprises a -shakeable hollow body having a portion thereof transparent, and the interior thereof formed into a plurality of compartments, all of the latter being observable through said transparent body portion. The compartments are disposed in substantially coplanar linear relation with respect to one another. Disposed within each compartment is a faceted game piece movable at random in all directions relative to said compartment upon shaking of the body. Each faceted game piece has various indicia indicated upon each of the facets thereof, whereby, upon certain facets of the pieces assuming a coplanar relation adjacent the transparent body portion, various meaningful sequences of indicia will result.

For a more complete understanding of this invention reference should be made to the drawings wherein:

Figure l is a perspective view of one form of game device;

Fig. 2 is a top plan view of the game device, shown in 2,739,815 Patented Mar. 27, 1956 Fig. 1, a portion of the device having the interior thereof exposed;

Fig. 3 is a sectional view taken along line 3-3 of Fig 1;

Fig. 4 is similar to Fig. 3 but showing a modified form of game device; Y

Fig. 5 is a layout view of one form of a game piece; and

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a second game piece of the same type shown in Fig. 5.

Referring now to the drawings, a device for playing a word-forming game is shown comprising an elongated rectangular box-like body 10 having a transparent portion thereof, in this instance the top 10 which is either hingedly mounted to the body 10, as seen in Fig. l, or slidablyV mounted thereon, as seen in Fig. 4, to provide access to the interior of the body, if desired. The body 10, in certain instances, may have the top or cover integrally connected thereto so that there is no access to the interior. The advantages, however, of providing access to the interior of the body will become apparent hereinafter. Mounted within the interior of the body 10 are a plurality of spaced, substantially parallel upright partition members 11 and a transversely extending upright partition member 11'; the members 11 and 11' are either cemented to or fused with the sides, ends, and bottom of the body 10 or said members may be removably positioned in said body to permit a greater number of compartments to be made at the option of the players if provision for making longer words be desired. The partition members 11 and 11' form a plurality of compartments l12, 12a, 12b, 12C, 12d, and 13, 13a, 13b, 13e, 13d which are of like configuration and, in this instance, are in coplanar relation with respect to one another and disposed in two substantially parallel rows consisting of ve compartments. The number of rows and the number of compartments in each row may be varied without departing from the scope of the invention. The corresponding compartments of said rows, for example, compartments 12 and 13, 12a and 13a, etc., are adapted to form sets of compartments which extend transversely with respect to the direction of the parallel rows.

The top 10', as shown in Figs. l through 3, is hingedly connected along one edge to the rear side of the body 10 by a pair of spaced hinges 14. A resilient clasp 15 is affixed to the opposite edge of the top and is adapted to frictionally engage the front Aside of the body when the top is in a closed position.

Disposed within each compartment is a faceted game piece 16 which, in this instance, is shown to be a cuboid element or die. It is to be understood, of course, that the invention is not tobe limited to a game piece of this particular shape, but that the pieces may be of a type having more or less than six facets. As disclosed more clearly in Figs. 5 and 6, all except one of the facets of each of the game pieces have a letter of the alphabet indicated thereon. The facet 21 of each piece has indicated thereon in place of a letter, a distinguishing symbol such as a star ZZ. If desired, facet 21 may be left blank. The purpose of the star 22 will become apparent when the rules for playing the game are described hereinafter. While the facets of the game pieces have indicated thereon various letters of the alphabet, they are not limited as such. lt is believed that the device for playing the word-forming game may be used for other games wherein game pieces having indicia such as numerals, pictures, etc. indicated on the facet-s are substituted for the game pieces shown.

In the modified form of transparent top or cover 17 of the body 10, shown in Fig. 4, suitable grooves 18 are formed in the inner surfaces and adjacent the upper edges of the front and back sides and one end wall of the body. The other end wall of the body 10 is shortened so as to enable the player to remove the top from the body 10 by sliding the top over the shortened end wall.

The hinged top or slidable top 17 are preferably formed of a transparent material such as glass or a transparent plastic. The sides andbottom of the body 10 and the partition members 11 and 11 are preferably opaque so that the player can only observe the game pieces upon viewing the body from the top.

One set of suggested rules for playing the Word-forming game is as follows: (a) the body 10, with the cover 10 or 17 closed and a game piece disposed in each compartment, is shaken by the player with such vigor as to cause each game piece to tumble freely in the respective compartment; (b) upon the body and game pieces coming to rest, the player observes through the transparent top the facets of all the game pieces, which facets are disposed in parallel relation with respect to the transparent top, and attempts to form an intelligible word preferably consisting of a common noun of the greatest number of letters possible starting to read from a game piece disposed Within a compartment, either 12 or 13, forming the Iset of compartments at the left-hand end of the body-to form the Word the player reads from let to right in either a diagonal or straight line direction; (c) if an intelligible Word, as determined by reference to a standard dictionary, is formed, the player, depending upon the length of the Word, is awarded a certain number of points; and (d) the shaking of the body or box is then repeated by another player who attempts in the same manner to form another Word. When the star, indicated by symbol 22, on facet 21 is observed by the player, any letter of the alphabet may be substituted therefor by the player so as to assist him or her to form a word. Various bonus points may be awarded, for example, when an opponent can form a word having more letters than the word announced by a player for a particular shake of the body. The first opportunity to score a bonus point may be given to the opponent at the left of the player and then to each succeeding opponent, but the same word should not be used by more than one opponent. In starting a new game the player to the leftl of the winner may begin. During a game the game pieces should not be changed into other spaces in the body or box, but after the completion of a game they may be thus changed.

in the instance shown in Fig. 2, it will be observed that a five letter word, ACUTE, may be formed, when the facets are read in the direction shown by the arrows and the letter U is substituted for the star indicated by the symbol 22 in compartment 12b.

Various systems may be utilized for determining what letter-s should be indicated on the facets of the game pieces. One possible system is to have the four letters of the alphabet which are most commonly used in starting a word, indicated on at least three facets of all the pieces, and the sixteen next most popular letters indicated on at least two facets of all the pieces. The remaining letters of the alphabet may be indicated on but one facet.

Scoring rules may be adopted as follows:

50 points Wins game.

Two-letter words 2 points Three-letter words 3 points Four-letter words 4 points Five-letter words 5 points The game may be played with partners, or alone, and with any number of players. y

Thus it will be seen that a simple game has been provided Which provides valuable practice inlearning the art of spelling, affords an excellent opportunity for improving ones vocabulary, and also provides abundant entertainment for the player or players. Furthermore, a wordforming game has been provided which enables innumerable possible combinations of letters, thereby increasing materially the number of words which may be formed. By reason of this fact the game provides an enduring source of keen interest and fascination tothe player or players.

' The game has appeal to young and old alike and is suited for play by one or more persons. The game device is simple and compact in construction, does not require a large area in which to play, confines the various game pieces within a box thereby preventing their becoming lost or misplaced, and is inexpensive to produce.

While several embodiments of this invention are shown above, it will be understood, of course, that the invention is not to be limited thereto, since many modifications may be made, and it is contemplated, therefore, by the appended claim, to cover any such modifications as fall within the true spirit and scope of this invention.

I claim:

A word-forming game comprising a shakeable hollow elongated body having opaque side and bottom walls and a transparent elongated top, said body having the interior thereof formed into a plurality of compartments by opaque partition Walls, all of said compartments being simultaneously observable through said transparent top and dis-v posed in coplanar relation and arranged in substantially parallel rows formed of at least three compartments, the

corresponding compartments of said rows being aligned.

with respect to one another to form sets of compartments, each set of compartments extending transversely with respect to the longitudinal dimension of said elongated transparent top, and a faceted game piece confined within each compartment of a row for independent movement in all directions with respect thereto upon shaking of said body,

certain of the facets of each piece having a predetermined` letter of the alphabet indicated thereon, whereby upon certain facets of selected game pieces assuming an adjacent position with respect to said transparent top, an in' telligible word of at least three letters results upon observing the certain facets of said selected game pieces starting with a selected piece disposed in a compartment included within the set of compartments adjacent the lefthand end of said body and moving progressively toward the right from said starting compartment to a compartment included Within the adjoining set of compartments and in which a second selected piece is disposed.

Dawson Oct. 17, 1950 

